Autodesk, Design, Technology, and more blog.

25 March 2013

Project Pinocchio 3D Character Controlled Real-time in Maya

As I mentioned on my Twitter account (@ShaanHurley) Friday, Autodesk’s own digital mad scientist or researcher in the Office of the CTO Brian Pene created a 3D rigged character using the new Project Pinocchio technology preview from Autodesk Labs and stepped it up a few levels. He took the rigged character he created and using a Xbox 360 Kinect & FaceShift was able to control the character in Autodesk Maya live in real-time.

What a great way to read bedtime stories to your young kids and give them a deep dark nightmare experience. Imagine setting the screen to your Skype call for a live business meeting or call home while traveling. Of course for those in the animation business there are more practical applications than my two examples, but I just like to warp the use of technologies just like my humor.

“Project Pinocchio is a free technology preview that leverages Autodesk's powerful 3D design and animation tools to provide you with a web-based laboratory where you can create fully-rigged custom 3D characters. Design a creation of your own or modify existing stock characters using a variety of pre-defined body types, facial features, and clothing styles for inclusion in 3D games, animations, and scenes.”